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One of the new "Next Train" signs at Kenmore Station.

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

Electronic message boards inside Kenmore Station now tell passengers waiting to ride outbound which Green Line train – a B, C, or D – will arrive next, but unlike signs around other parts of the MBTA, they do not say when trains will arrive.

T officials say the public transit agency expects to announce “in the coming months” a schedule for when “a more sophisticated vehicle tracking system” will be installed along the Green Line.

Technical staff at the agency are “working diligently” on the project, officials said.

“The MBTA is in the process of obtaining the tracking technology necessary to monitor train movements, both above and beneath the earth’s surface,” said a statement from the T.

“The MBTA is very proud to be the operators of the nation’s first subway,” said a statement from the T's general manager, Beverly Scott. “But being 116 years old doesn’t mean we have to act it. We are equally proud of our record of integrating the latest technology into the system, and we intend to keep building on that record.”

On the T’s three other main subway lines – the Red, Orange, and Blue – electronic message boards hung around station platforms display when the next train is expected to arrive. Those countdown clocks began rolling out about a year ago.

Trains on those lines can also be tracked via smartphone apps, which have been available since the fall of 2010.

At Kenmore Station on Thursday afternoon, the T unveiled the new “Next Train” information signs.

Boston Celtics’ first-round draft pick Kelly Olynyk was on hand to help promote the unveiling and to encourage fans to ride public transportation to TD Garden this coming basketball season, which for the Celtics will begin with a pre-season home game on Oct. 7 against the Toronto Raptors.

Olynyk rode the Green Line from Kenmore to North Station alongside fellow Gonzaga University alum and state transportation secretary Richard A. Davey.

Olynyk earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the university in December. Davey earned a law degree in 1999.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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(MBTA)

Celtics first-round draft pick Kelly Olynyk and transportation department secretary Richard A. Davey ride the Green Line together on Thursday afternoon. Both men have degrees from Gonzaga University.